It's 2016, For Fuck's Sake!

No but seriously. It's twenty-fucking-sixteen. There are things that should be easy by now!

For example, is it really so difficult to find cough syrup that doesn't taste like ass? I'm congested, so I took some Benylin. It tasted like mentholated chemical strawberries. Absolutely disgusting. They've been making this stuff for years, you'd think they'd have perfected the taste by now.

Addition Elle is selling this beautiful top,
but I really want those shorts!! 

And another thing: it shouldn't be this difficult to buy shorts! Okay, maybe it's not shorts season and maybe there aren't that many choices of styles in stores... but come on! Why can't I find nice, casual bermuda shorts? Old Navy seems to only have either short shorts or work shorts. Addition Elle has nothing at the moment, but when they do it's either work shorts or horribly impractical dressy shorts. I just think that I would have different choices in what I wear depending on whether I'm going to work or on a picnic with friends. The worst part of the Addition Elle website is that they're selling a sleeveless polo and the model showing it is wearing a pair of shorts I want... and the shorts are not even on the site! That's just mean!

Why am I looking for shorts in March, you may ask? Well, that brings me to a different point. I'M GOING BACK TO ITALY THIS SUMMER!!! WOOHOO!!! My mom and I (and some of her friends) will be spending two weeks in Praiano, on the Amalfi Coast (with an overnight trip to my mom's village). My mom and I will then be traveling, by train, to Milano (Duomo, Luini's, maybe some shopping) for a night, to San Remo (Baiardo, the beach, the casino) for two nights and finally up to Nice (France) for one night.

I'm looking forward to showing my mom some of my favourite places from when I was with ACLE, Baiardo especially. Some of my best ACLE memories are from there. I'm also looking forward to seeing my mom's village. I never thought I'd see it with her. She hasn't been back in over 40 years. I'm excited to see how she reacts to seeing it again.

Anywhoo, the search for shorts continues. If you see anything stores (that ship to Canada) and have cute shorts, let me know!

Cleaning, It's Good for the Soul

Brooks Adrenaline GTS 15

Yesterday morning, I went for another jog. But something was different: NEW SHOWS! I went to Boutique Endurance to buy a new pair of running shoes. It really makes all the difference. I didn't realize how little padding my old shoes had left! It's like walking on pillows! I still didn't get through the whole workout, but I did about 20 minutes. Then I went for a walk around the neighbourhood as a cool down. It felt good. I'm still trying to figure out what to wear on my jogs. Yesterday was -2C, so I wore a long sleeve thermal type shirt under a sweater and one of my new pairs of pants. It was good, but my hands and ears were cold. Maybe I need a tuque. I'm really nervous about running in the actual winter, with snow and stuff. I don't know if I'll actually keep up with it. I need to, though. I want to run a 5K this summer.

That's not all I did, though, yesterday. With the help of my mom, I cleared out a closet (not Eminem style). These aren't your normal, average, tiny closets. This one is HUGE. It's essentially a walk in closet where I had kinda just shoved a bunch of crap.Not just my crap, but all the crap that my grandmother (I inherited her fully furnished apartment) already had in there. After a whole lot of bags for donation, bags of garbage and recycling, I have all kinds of room in this mini-room/closet.

Here's the thing. I'm not a hoarder. I'm just lazy. I have no problem getting rid of things, when I put my mind to it. But finding the time, or the willpower to actually do it is difficult for me. I get overwhelmed by the prospect of all this effort and work and I'd honestly rather watch TV or read a book or dick around online.

But it's done. The closet at least. Next week, I'll attack another room!

New Clothes are Always a Good Reason

I went shopping today. Addition Elle was having a BOGO type sale on its "active" line. I got two pairs of jogging pants and two hooded sweaters... $200 worth of stuff for $100. Believe me, I'm a happy camper (jogger?) when I can buy cute outfits. I know it's silly and completely unreasonable, but I was so happy with my purchases that I went out for a jog! I'm telling you, retail therapy works.

So, once again, I trotted to my local park to begin a training session. I couldn't get through the whole thing, again, but I'm starting to zero in on why: I really need new shoes. I'm going to take it easy, not push too hard, until I can get a new pair (can someone say early Christmas gift).

I should try again on Tuesday, Maybe I'll have a chance to go buy shoes before then.

(I've been watching Girl Meets World. Was Boy Meets World this terrible? I loved it! This is baaaaaad)

No but seriously... Why Jogging?

So I tried the jogging thing again today. When does it get fun?

I still couldn't get through the whole first workout, but I think I did okay. I mean the fact that I went at all is huge. I actually didn't think I would go. I don't believe in myself.

I think I need better pants. The ones I had on today were too long and slid down. And, I know I need new shoes. Mine are over two years old and have a hole and probably don't support my feet as well as they did.

My calves and ankles hurt the most. Maybe I'm not doing it right? That's why I needed to stop both times. I know that I'm supposed to land on the balls of my feet (as opposed to the heels like when I walk) but it's harder than I thought it would be. This is why I wanted a trainer for the first couple times, but I can't afford it.

I'm going to keep it up, but I'm not going to push myself. The last thing I need it to get hurt.

On another note, I had an appointment with an allergist. I'm not really super allergic to anything. I reacted a little bit to dust and mold (and let's face it, who isn't). I went because I thought I had maybe developed a spontaneous allergic reaction to pears over the summer. The allergist was convinced that I had a birch pollen allergy. But it didn't react.

So. Outcome of today:

1. Allergic to dust. 
2. Allergic to mold.
3. Not technically allergic to pears.
4. Need better shoes and pants to jog.
5. I still don't like jogging.
6. The Body Shop charges way too much for their products, but they are awesome and I love them.
7. Pixar shorts are way too emotional for a 5 minutes film.

Good night!

Someone Explain to me Why I Decided to Start Jogging...

Today, I started my first day of 5K training. While I was only able to do half of the first recommended workout, I feel like it was a damn good start.

I’m not one to pay for things if I don’t have to. This goes for books, TV shows, movies, apps... If I can get it for free, I will. That being said, I paid $3.96 for a Couch to 5K app from Active Network, LLC. So far, I like it. There are four “coach” options, depending on what kind of motivation you need.

There’s Constance, who’s gone through the program and is very encouraging. That’s who I’m using and, so far, I like her.

Next is Billie. She’s described as “no-nonsense” and won’t be your cheerleader but she’ll help you though.

Then there’s Sergeant Block. As his name suggests, he’s the drill sergeant type which means lots of screaming... which some people like, judging by the popularity of boot camp training.

Finally, there’s Johnny Dead. He’s a zombie. I don’t get it, but I guess it’s some people’s thing. It’s not mine.

Look at this cute sports bra! Mine's green.
From Addition Elle.

Over the summer, I bought active wear pants, a good sports bra and I’ve been pretending to take a real interest in my fitness. I already had pretty good running shoes, although they’ve seen better days. I even looked into joining a gym!

I went to a women’s only fitness center that is pretty reputable. I filled out their questionnaire which was supposed to give some insight to how I wanted to go at it. After talking with two different workers, and I got a quote. They wanted roughly $150/month from me. That’s absolutely insane! That’s almost $2000 a year! Who the heck has that kind of money to spend on a gym? Not me, especially if I still want to go on vacation and enjoy my life. Let’s face it, I want to get fit, get into shape, but not at the cost of no longer having a life. There’s a discount gym right near my house, but it’s so beyond basic. There are no trainers to help you use the machines safely. I’ve never really “worked out” (yep, quotation marks totally needed there) so, I’m not sure my random and somewhat lacking CEGEP gym class memories will prevent me from getting hurt. I may join it anyways because some yoga classes should be good for me. It’s only $10/month (which is way more within my price range).

So, I woke up this morning at about 7:45am, determined to start jogging. I’ve been telling myself that I was determined for a while, but I’m just really good when it comes to lying to myself. It took a bit of internal coercing, but I did it. I got up, got dressed, got out of the house by 8:15am. I walked to my local park, turned on my app and started. And felt immediate shame and discouragement because jogging HURTS. I only got halfway through the 30 minute program because my ankle and calves and knee hurt too much, but I figured better doing half of the program relatively safely than the whole workout and hurt myself.

I’m going to try again on Tuesday.